The present invention relates generally to finger ring inserts and, more particularly, to a finger ring insert that can be snappingly attached to and detached from a circular lower band portion of a ring to allow a tighter fit of the ring on a wearer's finger. Additionally, the finger ring insert secures the ring from movement along the wearer's finger.
Situations may arise when a ring may not accurately fit a wearer's finger. To compensate for such a problem, the ring may be cut and resized to better fit the wearer's finger. While this solution may work, it also means the ring band must be cut and then resized to the proper finger ring size. Additionally, if the ring does not fit the wearer's finger at a later time or if the ring was incorrectly resized, the ring band must be cut again and enlarged (by soldering, to the ring band, additional material that is similar to the ring band) to properly fit the wearer's finger. To overcome the problems associated with cutting a ring band to resize a ring, a ring insert (or ring sizer or ring guard) may be placed on the ring band to reduce the size of the ring.
Such ring inserts have been described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,483,718 and 4,480,447 describe a finger ring insert that utilizes a leaf spring that is disposed under the top wall of the insert and that slidingly engages the lower band portion of the ring. Further, the ring insert includes bendable tabs that are bent along the outer edges and bottom of the ring band to secure the insert to the ring band. A problem with such a ring insert is that the ring insert includes a leaf spring portion which increases the complexity and cost of producing the insert. Also, the leaf spring portion may break or be bent out of shape leaving the insert unusable. Additionally, the bendable tabs may easily snag or rip a wearer's clothes or other items due to the fact that they are bent along the outer edge of the ring band and are positioned in an open and unprotected manner. Further, if the insert is taken off and placed back on a number of times (on one or many rings), the bendable tabs may become weak and unable to hold the insert in place and may eventually break.
Another example of a finger ring insert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,211, describes a ring insert that does not utilize a leaf spring but uses bendable "ear portions" (tabs) that are bend along the outer edges of the ring band to secure the insert to the ring band. The potential of snagging or ripping clothing is still possible, however, because the "ear portions" are positioned in an open and unprotected manner. Further, if the insert is taken off and placed back on a number of times (on one or many rings), the ear portions may become weak and unable to hold the insert in place and may eventually break.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,483,718, 4,480,447, and 4,569,211 do not provide a finger ring insert that keeps a ring from moving from side to side (North to South or East to West) along a wearer's finger.